VAJRADHARA,
OR DORJE CHANG (Tib.) is the primordial Buddha.
This teaching on Vajradhara was given by Khenpo
Karthar Rinpoche.

First we need to cultivate a positive attitude in whatever
we are doing, whether it be listening to, contemplating, or
meditating upon a teaching, or even participating in a worldly
activity.

Attitude is a matter of thinking. Right thinking and wrong
thinking differentiate spirituality and materialism. In the
material world we study and work hard for such selfish aims
as becoming famous. Because we have had a selfish point of
view throughout beginningless time, we experience the sufferings
of the six realms and are unable to liberate ourselves from
samsara.

Therefore, when we are practicing or listening to the Dharma,
we need to develop the pure attitude of wanting to benefit
all living beings, not only in a temporary way, but also to
ultimately free all beings in the six realms from suffering.
This is the positive attitude.

The aim of meditation practice is liberation from
the sufferings of conditioned existence and the experience of
ultimate bliss. Whether or not meditation practice will lead
to realization really depends upon the mental attitude of the
practitioner. If our mental attitude is impure, then it is like
mixing poison with food. We can see that food is beneficial
for our health, but if it is mixed with poison, it becomes dangerous.
Similarly, Dharma is beneficial, but whether our meditation
will be effective or not depends upon our attitude.

One specific meditation practice given by a teacher can lead
to different results, depending upon the mentality of the
students. For example, a student with a positive attitude
will have the best result; and a student who is totally unable
to develop a positive attitude will have no beneficial result
at all, despite his or her practice of meditation. Instead,
because of indulging in negative thoughts, this student may
experience an increase of conflicting emotions. This serves
to prove the importance of attitude.

You might wonder what type of pure attitude we really need
to develop during the stages of listening to, contemplating,
and meditating upon the teachings so as to experience the
fullness and fruition of our meditation. We must try to develop
the altruistic attitude, which begins with the awareness that
sentient beings are not only suffering at the present time,
but have been suffering endlessly throughout beginningless
time. The reason why they are experiencing such beginningless
and endless suffering is that throughout beginningless time
until now, they have been consistently motivated by the selfish
purpose of gaining selfish benefits. They want to experience
selfish happiness, pleasure, and joy. In order to experience
that selfish happiness, pleasure, and joy, they use the conflicting
emotions of anger, jealousy, pride, and so forth. Because
of the negative karma they have accumulated due to conflicting
emotions, they actually experience more suffering, instead
of a greater sense of happiness. Therefore, we must wish to
liberate all beings for all time from the causes of suffering.
This altruistic attitude of wanting to ultimately liberate
all beings from suffering is known as the enlightened mind,
or bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is very profound and can be very
effective if one can maintain such an enlightened state of
mind.

So having first developed an altruistic attitude, please
listen attentively. The teaching today is based on the lineage
gurus who appeared on this earth. When speaking of them, we
need to understand that in the past there have been fully
enlightened beings who have appeared on the earth to turn
the wheel of the Dharma. It is said that in the future there
will be another thousand enlightened beings who will also
come for the same purpose.

We are presently under the guidance of the teachings of fourth
buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, who took birth in India and lived
81 years, during which time he turned the wheel of the Dharma
three times. From Shakyamuni Buddha, a nirmanakaya aspect
of enlightenment, an unbroken transmission was passed down
to such great masters as Nagarjuna and Asanga, and they in
turn brought the teachings to Tibet, where the four great
schools of Tibetan Buddhism developed. All these teachings
originated from the nirmanakaya aspect of enlightenment. The
origin of the nirmanakaya is the sambhogakaya aspect of enlightenment,
and the origin of the sambhogakaya is the dharmakaya. An example
of the nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya, and dharmakaya aspects is
that of the clarity and light in this room originating from
the clarity and light outside the house, and the clarity and
light outside the house originating from the sun. Therefore,
the origin of the teachings and the four schools of Tibetan
Buddhism is the dharmakaya aspect or that of Vajradhara or
Samantabhadra, the realization of the ultimate state of enlightenment.

We are dependent upon the light outside the house to brighten
this room. As I have mentioned earlier, the clarity and light
outside originates with the sun. To realize the state of Vajradhara
or Samantabhadra is to become like the sun itself and no longer
dependent upon the light outside for illumination.

It is for this reason that in all the schools of the Kagyupas,
Gelugpas, and Sakyapas, the transmission of lineage goes back
to Vajradhara. Why it goes back to Vajradhara and not to Shakyamuni
Buddha is that it refers directly back to the essence of enlightenment,
the origin of the light, which is the sun itself and not just
the light of the sun. It is the same in the Nyingmapa tradition,
where the teachings do not originate with Padmasambhava or
Shakyamuni Buddha, but with Samantabhadra. Since the ultimate
source is the dharmakaya, all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism
originated with Vajradhara or Samantabhadra. The activity
of Vajradhara is to benefit all beings without discrimination
or judgement.

There is sometimes confusion in the minds of new students
as to whether either Vajradhara or Samantabhadra is superior
to the other. There is nothing that indicates the superiority
of one over the other as they are both equal. In a sense,
it is a name differentiation. For example, if you are in the
East, people think that the sky is the eastern sky; if you
are in the West, people think that the sky is the western
sky; but the sky is just one. It is not as if the eastern
sky is superior to the western sky or that the western sky
is superior to the eastern sky, as there is no superiority
inherent in the sky being either eastern or western. Both
are sky, the only difference being that they are over different
parts of the world; it is we who have the idea of "our" and
"their" sky. So there is actually no difference at all between
Vajradhara and Samantabhadra.

In one sense there is no difference between the two, but
we can note that there are two names. The Sanskrit word "Samantabhadra"
in Tibetan is Kuntuzangpo, "kuntu" meaning "ultimately" and
"zangpo" meaning "goodness." What is known as "Kuntuzangpo"
is primordially free from any fault, stain, or mental confusion,
and therefore is not only presently pure, but also can never
be defiled in the future. The Sanskrit word "Vajradhara" in
Tibetan is Dorje Chang, "dorje" meaning "indestructibility"
and "chang" meaning "permanently possessed." The quality that
enlightened beings have realized is within all sentient beings.
What is known as Dorje Chang is the full realization and stabilization
of the enlightened quality within all beings.

It can be further noted that when Samantabhadra and Vajradhara
are depicted in thangka paintings, one is shown without ornaments
and garments, and the other is shown with ornaments and garments.
Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo) is depicted naked, without ornaments
and garments, to symbolize that his state of realization is
unconditionally free from mental projection and primordially
pure, as is the dharmakaya. Vajradhara (Dorje Chang) is depicted
with heavenly ornaments and garments to symbolize his capacity
to ceaselessly benefit and fulfill the needs of all living
beings through the means of sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya emanations.

In the Uttaratantra Shastra, Maitreya explains that the actual
enlightened being is Samantabhadra or Vajradhara, and the
emanation aspect of enlightenment is Shakyamuni Buddha, who
appeared on the earth. Shakyamuni Buddha himself explained
that he had not spoken any words nor had he ever given teachings,
and that it was only through the karmic manifestation and
karmic capacity of sentient beings that they had heard him
teach. Why Shakyamuni Buddha said that he never taught any
teachings is that in the dharmakaya or ultimate aspect of
enlightenment, he never gave teachings. Shakyamuni Buddha
was an emanation and not an ultimate aspect of enlightenment.
It was through the emanation or nirmanakaya aspect of enlightenment
that people heard different teachings according to their karmic
capacity.

The sun and Vajradhara never actually appear on the earth,
it is rather the light of the sun and the emanation of Vajradhara
that sentient beings experience through their capacity and
purity of mind. For example, enlightened beings are beyond
mental conception. Like the sun, they have no wish to shine
only on this part of the world or to benefit only here or
there, they just simply shine. The luminosity of the sun is
perceived in its different aspects by many beings according
to their capacity. The beings who have physical form experience
the warmth of the sun and are benefited, although the sun
did not purposely give that warmth to benefit them. The sentient
beings who have bodies experience warmth simply because they
have physical form. The light of the sun enables beings to
see things clearly because they have eyes. Just as the light
of the sun enables those with eyes to see clearly, it is the
capacity and purity of mind that enable beings to experience
the nirmanakaya aspect of enlightenment. Vajradhara does not
actually appear on the earth.

For that reason, although Shakyamuni Buddha passed into nirvana
about 2530 years ago, we are still able to experience his
blessing through our devotion, confidence, and practice because
the ultimate realization of buddhahood, the dharmakaya or
Vajradhara aspect of enlightenment, never dies. As long as
the sun is above in the sky, a temporary cloud may obscure
its light, but that does not mean the sun has lost its light;
the sun is always shining. Likewise, although there is a very
long lapse of time between the passing away of Shakyamuni
Buddha and our present age, if we practice diligently with
faith and confidence, we are still capable of experiencing
the blessing of the Buddha because Vajradhara is still there.
The Vajradhara aspect is ceaselessly present.

The activity of Vajradhara is to benefit all beings without
discrimination or judgement, just as it is inherent in the
nature of the trees that grow on the earth to burn when set
on fire. The nature of any wood, regardless of where it is
grown, is to burn; the nature of the activity of Vajradhara
is to benefit sentient beings, regardless of what type of
living being they may be. It is not only in the buddha nature
of the Vajradhara aspect of ultimate enlightenment to benefit
sentient beings; buddha nature is also inherent in all living
beings like ourselves as well.

We can all agree that the nature of wood is that it burns;
but it must meet with the cause of burning as it cannot burn
itself. Although the buddha nature or Vajradhara aspect of
enlightenment is within all living beings like ourselves,
without meeting the cause to ripen this quality, we are unable
to realize it. That is why all the teachers in all the schools
emphasize the importance of the lineage gurus who have obtained
the unbroken transmission. By practicing according to their
teachings, we are meeting the cause to ripen our buddha nature.

Meeting the cause of ripening our mind is necessary to experience
the enlightenment of our mind. In the teachings it is said
that one butter lamp lights another. It is like having a hundred
candles. When one candle is burning, the next candle can also
be lit when it meets the flame of the first candle, and then
the third candle can be lit when it meets the flame of the
second, and the same with the fourth, and so forth. If you
leave a candle on a shrine, it cannot light up without meeting
a flame; it needs to meet with such a cause.

Without knowing the meaning of the actual Vajradhara, many
students new to the Dharma ask questions such as who the father
or mother of Vajradhara are, and when Vajradhara took birth.
There are other students who think that Vajradhara is a superior
human being living high above in the sky. These ideas stem
from a lack of understanding of the enlightenment aspect.
Because of this lack of understanding, Vajradhara is believed
to exist actually in physical form, abiding above us in some
heavenly place, although he is beyond words and conception.
Although the state of Vajradhara is beyond words and conception,
it is something within ourselves which through our diligence
and practice we are able to experience. Vajradhara is not
anything separate or different from ourselves.

When we state that there is no physical form to Vajradhara,
the argument can still be made that we can see a dark blue
human being who wears ornaments and silks and holds a bell
and vajra in tangka paintings. These are all really symbolic
gestures to enable students to understand the enlightened
aspect. The dark blue color, bell, and vajra symbolize the
indestructibility of Vajradhara. The dark blue also connotes
his ceaseless activity to benefit beings, and his ornaments
symbolize the preciousness of benefiting all living beings.

Those who are familiar with the mahamudra supplication prayer
know we begin it by reciting, "Great Dorje Chang (Tibetan
for Vajradhara), Telo, Naro. . ." It is very important to
have an understanding of Vajradhara be cause everything that
comes later is based on this ultimate aspect of enlightenment.
If we misunderstand anything now, then we might become confused
later. We must be sure that we correctly understand the meaning
of Vajradhara, so we can correctly relate to future teachings.